


Chance Encounters

by ellacj



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Bartenders, F/F, First Meetings, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-23
Updated: 2014-09-23
Packaged: 2018-02-18 11:11:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2346344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellacj/pseuds/ellacj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe it's more than chance that Regina's car breaks down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chance Encounters

**Author's Note:**

> I realize I've been writing a lot of angst lately, so here's a bit of a fluff piece I found on my computer from July (:

Emma loves listening to the guys at the bar cheer for her when she makes the drinks. She loves watching them clamber over one another to get a better look, and she especially loves the various bills thrown her way.

Tonight in particular, she’s making a hell of a lot of tips. She tucks the bills in her bra and picks up a few beer bottles to juggle – that always gets them. And then, for some reason, her gaze is drawn to the door.

A beautiful woman walks into the bar. She doesn’t fit in at the Rabbit Hole; not at all. Emma doesn’t realize she’s staring at the woman until she hears the shattering of glass on her right side and looks down to see a broken beer bottle at her feet.

Emma flushes as Ruby frowns at her. The guys at the bar quiet down and return to their conversations, now that their favorite bartender has fucked up her act.

“What happened, Swan?” Ruby demands in a hushed voice. “That’s your best move!”

“I…” Emma struggles to find words, but none come to mind. She glances over her shoulder, and sees the woman sitting at the bar. “Excuse me,” she mutters, ducking away from Ruby and moving over to stand in front of the woman. “Hey,” she says, slapping on her usual charm.

The woman looks up. “Hello.”

“What can I get you?”

The woman shakes her head. “Nothing to drink. However, if you know where I could find a phone that would be quite helpful.”

Emma frowns. “You don’t have a cell?”

“It’s out of battery. My car broke down about a block from here and I need to call a tow company.”

“All our phones are in our employee lockers during our shifts, but I get off in ten minutes if you wanna wait.”

The woman smiles gratefully. “Thank you.”

Emma grabs a beer from behind her, popping the cap off with ease and sliding it across the bar. “On the house,” she says with an easy smile.

“I can’t take this… I don’t even know you.”

“Emma Swan. Now you know me.”

The woman cracks a small smile. “Regina Mills.”

Emma leans her hip on the counter. “Besides, isn’t that what people do when they see a pretty lady? Buy them a drink?”

Regina’s face flushes and she daintily sips the beer. She makes a face as the taste washes over her tongue. “It’s so strong.”

“Wait. Don’t tell me you’ve never had beer before.”

“I prefer appletinis,” Regina says quietly.

“Not even at a high school keg party?”

“I didn’t go to parties. Unless they were my mother’s social gatherings,” Regina adds with a soft snort.

Emma leans her elbows on the bar. “I sense a story here.”

“I wouldn’t burden you with you with my traumatic childhood.”

“Come on, I’m a bartender. We’re like therapists. Only better, because we give you alcohol.”

Regina laughs, and it’s warm and rich and Emma finds herself wanting to make her do it again. “Fair enough.” She takes a long sip of her beer, wrinkling her nose as it goes down.

“Em, I need you over here!” Ruby hollers from across the bar.

Emma sighs and flashes Regina an apologetic smile before rushing over to help Ruby. It’s much too long before she finally gets back to Regina. “So,” she says, slightly out of breath. “Your mom.”

“There’s not really much to say. She was very strict. Wanted me to ‘succeed’. My mother and I had very different opinions about what success is and that’s how I ended up moving to Manhattan from Santa Barbara.”

“Santa Barbara?” Emma raises her eyebrows, impressed. “You’re a West Coast girl.”

“I never fit in on the beach. I’m a big city businesswoman through and through.”

“I can tell.” Emma allows her eyes to appreciatively roam up and down Regina’s figure, taking in every curve.

Ruby saunters over to them. “Em, your shift’s over. Every second you stay is _unpaid overtime_.”

Emma shakes her head quickly. “Right.” She turns to Regina. “Come back to the lockers with me and you can use my phone.”

Regina smiles gratefully and slides off the barstool, careful not to let her skirt ride up (not that Emma would have minded seeing a bit more of those flawless thighs). She follows Emma through the back.

Emma sticks her tongue out when Ruby waggles her eyebrows behind Regina’s back.

In the locker room, Emma hands Regina her old, beat-up phone and pulls off her soaked tank top, blushing when Regina’s eyes go wide. “First night and you’ve already seen my tits,” Emma jokes weakly. She doesn’t wear a bra when she’s working, and purposefully spills bits of drinks she’s serving on her white tank tops. It brings in the tips and that’s all that matters.

Regina calls a tow company and turns away while Emma changes out of her tight Daisy Dukes and pulls on a soft sweater and a pair of skinny jeans. Her black stilettos are exchanged for a soft pair of brown boots. “You can look now,” she says when she’s finished.

Regina ends her conversation and returns Emma’s phone, eyes roaming over Emma’s body, not even trying to be subtle.

“You get a truck?”

Regina nods. “They’ll get my car and drop it at my apartment. I’ll just take a cab home.”

Emma hears her voice before she thinks the thought. “Let me drive you home.”

Regina flushes and shakes her head. “You’ve already done so much for me tonight, Emma. I can handle myself from here.”

“I know you can. But you look like you’ve had a rough day. Let me do something nice for you.”

“I… all right.”

Emma grins. “My car’s out in employee parking.” She grabs her keys from the locker and shuts it. “I just gotta make a call first.” She dials her home phone number, willing her son to pick up. He does. “Henry,” she says, relieved.

“Hey, Ma. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. I’m gonna be home a little late tonight. I’ve gotta drop a friend off at her apartment before I come home.” She doesn’t look at Regina’s reaction to her use of the word “friend”.

“Okay.” Henry’s voice is small.

“Hey,” Emma says, suddenly feeling guilty. “It’s only gonna be like another hour. I promise we’ll still have our day tomorrow.”

“I know. I’ll see you when you get home.”

“You know you don’t have to stay up for me,” Emma says quietly. “It’s not good for you to be up this late.”

“It’s not good for you either.”

Emma doesn’t reply to that. She knows it’s true, but this job is the only way she can support her and Henry.

Henry sighs. “I’m sorry, Ma. I know you have to.”

Emma’s voice is tight. “I’ll be home soon. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Emma hangs up and turns to find Regina regarding her with a curious expression. “Boyfriend?” She sounds slightly disappointed.

Emma snorts. They start walking to the parking lot. “No. Henry’s my kid. I split up with his dad before he was born.” She spares Regina all the gory details of the breakup.

Regina smiles. “He waits up for you at work?”

“Yeah, he tries anyway. Some nights I come home and he’s conked out on the couch with the TV on.” She says it affectionately.

“That’s sweet. He obviously cares very much about you.”

Emma can’t stop a smile from spreading across her face. “This is me.” She gestures to her beat-up yellow bug.

Regina wrinkles her nose, but, to her credit, doesn’t say anything as she gets in the passenger side. She gives Emma directions to her apartment building. It’s about a half hour away from the bar, out of the sketchy urban area where Emma works and into the classy, upscale rich part of Manhattan.

“This is it,” Regina says as Emma pulls up beside an enormous apartment complex, the exterior made of ornate white – is that marble?

Emma lets out a low whistle. “Damn.”

“Thank you. For the drink. And for letting me use your phone. And for the ride.” Regina flushes. “I owe you one. Or three.” She’s rambling, something that Emma easily recognizes as a nervous habit.

Emma pulls up beside a valet and hands the young boy the keys, getting out after Regina.

“What are you doing?”

“Walking you up.” Emma stuffs her hands in her pockets. “If that’s okay.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I keep telling you. I want to.”

Regina smiles. “All right, then.”

Emma follows Regina into the lobby, which is huge and intricately decorated and has a gurgling fountain right in the middle of it and a waterfall cascading down one wall. Emma feels suddenly out of place in her skinny jeans and boots. _At least I changed out of my work clothes_ , she thinks gratefully.

Regina, meanwhile, looks completely in her element as she strides through the lobby with confidence and into the elevator. She presses the button for the top floor.

“Penthouse? Emma asks.

Regina blushes. “Something like that.”

They get out on floor 12 (after a few stops on floors 4, 6, and 9), and there are only six doors in this hallway, as opposed to the twelve Emma saw from the elevator on the other floors.

Regina opens the second door on their left with a silver key, and sure enough it opens into a very modern-looking apartment. The walls are white and the furniture is black leather on a white carpet. “Will you come in? I owe you a drink.”

Emma hesitates. “I should get home to Henry…”

Regina’s face falls before she shoves her mask back in place. “Of course.”

“I guess one drink wouldn’t hurt.” Emma crosses the threshold into the apartment, biting her lip because _what if her boots make the floor dirty_.

Regina pours amber liquid into two ornate crystal glasses and hands one to Emma. “It’s cider,” she says when Emma looks at it suspiciously. “Careful, it’s a bit strong.”

They sit down beside each other on the premium leather couch. Emma takes one sip of the cider, decides she hates it – it’s much too sweet for her – and sets the glass down on the coffee table. “I probably shouldn’t drink too much,” she says as an excuse. “Gotta drive home and take care of a ten-year-old kid.” She winces. She hadn’t meant to tell Regina Henry’s age. She could do the math. She’d figure out Emma was seventeen when she got pregnant. She’d judge her for it.

But Regina doesn’t comment. “That’s good of you. Many parents aren’t even responsible enough to come home sober.” She has a distant look in her eye, as though she’s remembering something.

Emma sighs and stands up. “He’s already mad at me for getting home late. I’d better go.”

“Of course.” Regina stands up. “Thank you again.”

“I’d like to see you again,” Emma says without thinking. “I mean… I think you’re really cool. And I think it’d be cool if we could hang out.” God, could that sound more juvenile?

But Regina smiles. “I’d like to see you too.”

“Why don’t I call you?”

Regina reaches into her purse and pulls out a business card. “My personal phone is on the back,” she says as she scribbles on the back of it with a pen. She hands it to Emma with flushed cheeks.

Emma grins as she takes it. Regina has cute, girly handwriting. She even punctuated the number with a tiny heart. “I’ll, uh, call you tomorrow. If that’s okay,” she says as Regina walks her to the door.

Regina opens the door and leans against the doorframe with her hip. “I’d like that.”

“Awesome.” She hesitates, wondering if she should do the thing she wants to do. What the hell, she’s been taking risks all night and it got her this far. So she leans forward, standing on her toes to reach Regina in those tall heels, and ghosts her lips over Regina’s cheek. Then she turns and leaves without looking back. By the time she gets to her car she only has one thought: _Someday I’m gonna marry that woman._

And someday, she does.


End file.
